{{
`${userDetail.user.displayName}${userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode ? `#${standardizeBungieGlobalCode(userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode)}` : ""}`}}
{{getUserClans()}}
1/25/2013 4:31:41 PM
4
I do not think that Mendicant Bias is still on the side of the Precursors/Flood, he seems to adopt the same goal as the Librarian upon becoming metastable - helping humanity attain the Mantle.
On the subject of Mendicant Bias' "master" and supporting the possibility he sent John to Requiem to kill the Didact, here's a piece of dialogue from Primordium:
[quote]"But I am the one who knows your chosen name, your true name, and who commanded your construction."
"That is so."
"Then I am your client and master."[/quote] ~ Didact talking to Mendicant Bias in Primordium
English
-
But what precisely is so important about the Mantle and why does humanity deserve it?
-
The Mantle is held by "those whose evolution is most complete" and has the capacity to protect life in the galaxy. Humanity passed the Precursors' test through self-sacrifice, throwing two-thirds of their entire population at the Flood - in contrast to the Forerunners who sacrificed other races and dominated anyone who could match them on a technological level, exploiting a loophole in their Mantle. The Librarian believes that humanity's 'geneplan' surpasses that of the Forerunners and, through subtle conditioning via her implantation of a geas, humanity could rise again as the galaxy's protectors. The Forerunner religion surrounding the Mantle also states that each guardian race has a sort of allotted time, which they called Living Time. The Mantle stays with a species for a time and is then passed on, that's why they gave themselves the title 'Forerunner', it's not actually the name of their race. The literal translation of Forerunner is 'one who precedes another', in this case humanity.
-
So the Mantle is just a construction of Precursor society?
-
The Mantle is a bit of a grey area to be honest, the Forerunners have twisted it over ages to enable them to justify their position as the Big Brother of the galaxy. To the Precursors, the Mantle is what dictates the worthiness of a species to live on by sacrificing themselves to the Flood as the Precursors did because they see the Flood as the perfect form of life - free of any desire for conflict or materialistic gain, it's a being completely at peace with the universe.
